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When Jim asked me to think about a favourite route, my first thoughts were of rides in Africa, Australia and Asia, but then the Fosse Way in England leapt into my mind. It did so for quite a few reasons.

It has an amazing history

Beats the hell out of riding the motorway

It’s great fun to ride

And I think it’s a route that any visitor to the UK should add to their ‘To Ride’ list.

The full 370 mile route was originally laid down by the Romans and it ran from Exeter, way down in the South West, right across England in an almost diagonal line to the city of Lincoln in the North East.

Most people know that the Romans were famous for building amazingly straight roads. Sometimes doing so across geography that simply wasn’t straight line friendly and this route certainly isn’t that.

Some of the sections are on the original Roman route and some simply run close to it, but all the time you are riding through history and magnificent rolling countryside.

The Route?

I’m going to take you on a section of the Fosse way which covers roughly a third of the way. Your ride can take you just a few hours but you might want to stretch it into a couple of days; even a week. You’ll be ending your journey in a world famous theatre – if you choose!

The ancient Roman city of Bath, or Aquae Sulis , is a great kick off point. The city sits on top of a thermal spring and the Romans developed spa baths. In the Georgian times the healing nature of the waters attracted the rich and so the city developed into a very classy and popular place. Anyway start in Bath, but give yourself a couple of days to explore first. http://visitbath.co.uk/

Ride east on the A4.

Then head north onto the A429 near the M4. (The motorway between London and Wales.) You’ll be passing close to the Bury Camp which is a circular Iron Age fort. If you’ve never seen one an Iron Age fort site then it’s worth taking your first detour.

The A429 takes you through the old Royal Air Force Airfield at Kemble, towards the city of Cirencester.

Cirencester is a really nice small city, which still retains some of the original cobble stone roads. Once, the city was the second largest Roman settlement England. Visit the award winning Corinium Museum as it’ll give you a really good taste of the area you are now riding through.

Staying still on the A429, carry on in the north easterly direction towards Fosse Bridge. Just before you get to Fosse Bridge, hang a left and head over to the Chedworth Roman villa site. It’s a fascinating place to wander around.

But on with the ride. If you’ve been on the road early then Stow on the Wold makes a great place to stop for lunch. If you are taking your time, it’s also perfect place to stop overnight. You have a stack of ancient and beautiful Cotswold stone hotels and plenty of Bed and Breakfast’s to choose from, and there are camping sites nearby.

At one time the Stow on the Wold crossroads made it a natural place to trade goods coming from all over the region – even as far away as Wales. There’s a market there every Thursday but nothing like as big as those of early days. There are two horse fairs - one in May and the other in October. The May fair is the biggest and one of the biggest Gypsy gatherings of its kind in the UK.

Next, simply stay on the A429 through Moreton in Marsh until just north of the village of Halford.

After Halford you ride onto a minor road, the B4455. This next 45 miles of amazingly straight road takes you just over an hour and a half to ride and includes small but very picturesque villages such as Brinklow.

End up at a busy crossroad with the A5. You can carry on towards Leicester on the Fosse Way, but my advice is here is to turn around and do this last section again!

From Bath to this turnaround point on the A5, is just 110 miles! If you haven’t stopped anywhere then you’ll have done it in around 3 hours, but I’d lay odds on you stopping quite a few times.

My suggestion is that you head back to Halford and then hang a right. 8 miles later, end your ride in Shakespeare’s town, Stratford upon Avon. http://www.visitstratforduponavon.co.uk/

The beauty of this road is that you can ride it the way you want to. You may want to ride it twice!

Top tip: Add in some extra time to scoot off and explore some of the small pretty villages that are within a few miles of the Fosse Way.